Andre Villas-Boas has hailed his Tottenham Hotspur players as they overturned a one-goal deficit to claim a 3-1 victory from their home encounter with Manchester City this afternoon.

Second-half goals from Clint Dempsey, Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale secured the win for Villas-Boas's team, who have enhanced their chances of forcing their way into next season's Champions League.

Despite admitting that his side underperformed during the first half, Villas-Boas was quick to praise them for their efforts after the restart.

"I have to thank their team for their fighting spirit, they never give up. Hopefully this gives us a push for the rest of the season," he told BBC Sport.

"It was a great game and the players did ever so well to come back into it. In the first half we didn't play with confidence, but we always had the desire to come back into the game.

"In the second half everything changed and we played with more confidence. We found more spaces and we found the back of the net, deservedly."

The result has left Spurs fifth in the Premier League standings, but they are now just two points behind rivals Arsenal with a game in hand.